The present invention relates to a bis(piperazinylalkyl) ether compound which is a novel compound not known in the prior art nor described in any literature as well as a method for the preparation thereof. The inventive bis(piperazinylalkyl) ether compound has an activity and is useful as a catalyst for the urethane-forming reaction between a polyisocyanate compound and a multifunctional active hydrogen-containing compound, e.g., polyol compound.
Various compounds including amine compounds such as bis(2-dimethylamino ethyl) ether and N,N,N',N',N"-pentamethyl diethylene triamine are known and used as a catalyst for the urethane-forming reaction between a polyisocyanate compound and a multifunctional active hydrogen-containing compound. A problem in these amine compounds as a urethane-forming catalyst is that the activity of these compounds is strong enough even at a relatively low temperature of, e.g., room temperature, at the initial stage of the urethane-foaming reaction or, in other words, the so-called cream time, i.e. the time before the start of the foaming reaction, is extremely short, so that the urethane-forming reaction has pro-ceeded so far already before the reactants, i.e. the polyisocyanate and polyol compounds, can be fully and uniformly blended together to form a uniform reaction mixture even by undertaking a most powerful mixing means.
Accordingly, it is eagerly desired to develop a novel catalytic compound for the urethane-forming reaction which exhibits a relatively low activity when the temperature of the reaction mixture is low at the initial stage of the urethane-forming reaction so that the reactiom proceeds moderately slowly to provide a sufficient time for preparing a uniform mixture of the reactants while exhibiting full activity at an elevated temperature to rapidly complete the reaction.